Sir Lynton Crosby goes full English Monty with Aston Martin

He's nabbed himself a knighthood and he's got a few UK election victories under his belt – it's only natural then that home-grown political strategist Lynton Crosby goes the full British Monty and gets himself an Aston Martin.

John Howard's former man – whose work in Blighty helping to get British PM David Cameron and outgoing London mayor Boris Johnson into their respective offices has won him plaudits and enemies in pretty much equal measure – has put the estimated $4.7 million the Tories recently paid him to excellent use, getting himself a classic set of wheels.

"It's an old one, and it's not exactly a new purchase," said the famously thrifty Sir Lynton from London as he strolled to work. "What can I tell you? I've long been an admirer of English manufacturing."

The Wizard of Oz, as he is both affectionately and bitterly known in London political circles, received his knighthood "for services to politics" last week, just as a hard-fought battle for London mayor entered its final days.

Sir Lynton's firm CTF Partners pulled the strings on the campaign of Conservative candidate (and eventual loser) Zac Goldsmith, and copped a whipping in the UK press for masterminding what some commentators called an acutely negative campaign.